As the part-owner and President of a busy vacation rental agency - http://www.clrm.ca- I see a wide range of issues that arise during the year but the bulk of them come in the ten weeks of our high season, from the end of June to early September. Most deliver a learning point so here's the top five from 2011.

Glass tables have no place in a vacation rental

Glass patio tables are relatively inexpensive but not if you have to replace them every year. Rogue winds can come from nowhere and tip an open umbrella taking a table with it. Go for a more durable type of table that will last for year.

Being specific about maximum occupancy

This year we sent a letter to every guest two weeks prior to their rental to remind them that occupancy of the property was limited to the persons they had listed on their agreement, and the penalties for overcrowding. It was amazing what came out of the woodwork following that email. Children who had been omitted; planned family gatherings that had been conveniently forgotten, occasional overnight guests who had been invited but not included on the application.

Avoid surprises by highlighting negatives

We found that complaints often reference things that are identified in a listing, like water quality or non-satellite TV, but seem to be missed unless they are specifically

Owner-Guest connection pays dividends

This is a nugget taken from some of the reviews posted on Flipkey this summer. The most positive reviews usually included a comment about kindness shown by owners, either through a welcome note, a phone call after their arrival, or a personal welcome. It seems that even when guests book through an agency, a personal touch shown by the property owners can go a long way to create good feeling. This seems to percolate through to the respect they show on checkout too.

No entry system is perfect

Access issues still top the list of complaints and many of these can be circumvented by double checking on codes used and having a key hidden in a location that is only divulged if the guests cannot get in conventionally. Overstuffing lock boxes with too many keys can jam the mechanism as we found out with a couple of cottages.

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